Metal railroad-tie.



' W. W. MEOHLING & J. E. SMITH. METAL RAILROAD TIE. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 7A 1912.

1,085,051 I Patented Jan. 20,1914.

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I!!! Air/1141]] wan 5 'ifflwiar 15 Q flmeckZi/zg, WITNESSES W. MEOHLING & J. E. SMITH.

METAL RAILROAD TIE. APPLICATION nun) we. 1, 1912.

Patented J an. 20, 1914.

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INVENTORS,

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wrnnrnnc'w. MECHLTNG, or MUnHALL, ant: moon 'sMITn, pr HOMESTEAD,

PENNSYLVANIA.

METAL RAILROAD-TIE.

Specification of I'e'tters 'lateht.

Patented Jam-20, 1914..

Application filed August 7, 1912. Serial No. 713,834.

To all whome't mag/concern:

Be itknown that we, WILLIAM W. MnoH- LING and JACOB E. SMI H, citizens of the United States, and residents, respectively, of Munhall and of Homestead, in'the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Metal Railroad-Tiesfof which the following is a full and complete s ecification.

. Our present inventionre ates more especially tothat particular form of metal railroad tie shown and claimed in our prior U. -S. Patent No. 928,529, issuedJuly 20,

1909 the primary object in the present in stance being to IpI'OVldG a tie of this character which is more securely anchored in the ballast of the road-bed, and therefore held more securely against end-wise move-,

ment.

It is a 'known fact'that wooden ties, commonly used on railroads, possess suflicie'nt skin friction to hold them in place even on.

curves and under the impact of fast mov-- inig trains, while metal railroad ties of plain I construction are not entirely satisfactory on railroads that maintain fast passenger traiiic, due to the fact that they possess practically no skin friction, and when of substantially uniform cross-section froinend the resilient blocks rest'on the inside bottom I flanges and are not only shock absorbing but, are also composed of insulating material so that a road-bed provided with such ties is well adapted for the application of modern signaling systems, by reason of the insulatlon of'the track-rails. However, the tie shown in that patent has not suliicient skin friction to hold it against lateral movement in the road-bed, particularly on curves where heavy and fast train service is maintained, inasmuch as the anchorage depends on the ballast which is tamped between the a T-bar.

twoturned ends of "the tie supplemented by the weightof the ballast on the outside of each end of the tie.

The principal object of the invention for Y which we now apply for patent is to improve the anchorage of metal ties in the ballast of the road-bed, and we accomplish this by reversing the bent end portions of the he; that is to say,'bend one end in one direction laterally and the other in the opposite direction laterally, and supplement this by depressing the flanges at each end, where the bend is made, for the purpose of forming webs which project downwardly into the ballast.

In the accompanying drawings, which form apart of this specification: Figure 1 is a plan yiew of one form of metal tie, constructed in accordance with our invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view. thereof, on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation. Fig. 4 is a lan view of a similar tie, in this instance ormed from d Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a view showing the application of the tie shown in Fig. 5, Fig. 7 is a plan view showing one form of tie made from an ordinary railroad-rail. Fig. 8 is a modification of Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the tie shown in Fig. 8. Figs. 10 and 11 are sectional views on the lines 10-10 and 111l, respectively, of Fig. 8.

In forming the metal tie it is preferred. to utilize wornout railroad-rails, and where a steam rolling-mill is convenient it is preferable to re-roll said rails either to an angle form, as shown in Fig. 1, or a T-shape, as shown in Fig. 4. The angle or T rails may, however, be rolled from billets, if desired.

Figs. -1, 2 and 3 showa tie formed of an .angle rail comprising a body 12, with the end portions 13, 13, bent back onto the body portion ,parallel thereto, so that the bottom flange 13 of each end loop will project into said loop, and in "order to accomplish this and dispose the loop portions in reverse directions the intermediate portion of the body of the angle rail is given a quarter twist, as shown at 14. so that the vertical wall, as 16 of one loop becomes the bottom flange 13 of the other loop, and vice versa. In this instance, as will be noted, the two members of the angle rail may be, and preferably are, of the same width, and it will also be noted that this twisting of the rail necessary in order that the bottom flange of each loop may project into the loop,'to serve/as a support for the resilient shock absorbing block 15, preferably a wooden block, which is secured within the loo por tion, one in each, by suitable means, or instance the bolts 16.

In the form shown in Figs. 4 and 5 a T-rail 17 is used, and it will be noted that in this instance it is merely necessary to bend the end portions, 18, in reverse directions so that they will be located at opposite sides of the body, the bottom flange, as 17*, at one side forming the inner bottom flange of one of the end loops, and the bottom flange 1?, at the other side forming the inner bottom flange of the other end loop, and in addition to these inner flanges, or seats for the blocks, the loop portions are provided with outwardly-projecting bottom flanges. Of course these opposite bottom flanges fornrlarger bearing surfaces in the ballast, but the angle rail, shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, in the opinion of some railroad memprovides a tie which is easier to tamp tlmnone with the broader base flange incident to a T-rail, on account of the outer flange of the latter.

Figs. 7 to 11 show a modification in which the tie is formed by bending the ends of a worn-out rail, without re-rolling. This form is preferred for such railroads as are far removed from mills in which the rail could be re-rolled to angle or T shape; that is where the cost of freight on the material both ways would be excessive. All of these forms show a standard rail 20, with head 20 and opposite base-flanges 20 20, as usual, and this rail is bent at its ends to form the end loops 21, and these end loops may be at one side of the body portion, as shown in Fig. 7, or the end portions may be reversely bent, as shown in Fig. 8, to locate the loops at opposite sides of the body and out of line with each other, as in Fig. 4, heretofore described.

As will be understood the loops are formed by heating the rail at the proper point in any suitable forge or furnace, and then subjecting it to the action of an ordinary bender or bulldozer. In bending the rail to form the loop the inwardly projecting portion of the base-flange, that is theinner flange 2O buckles at the arc of the loop, and this part of the flange we depress to form a substantially vertical web or downward rojection 22. These webs or downward pro ections at the ends of the tie enter the ballast of the road-bed and provide additional anchorage for the tie.

The tie described utilizes practically waste material, and at the same time provides a practical road-bed. The metal portion can, if desired, be coated with a suitable paint or prcscrvaii\'e, but even when left plain the rusting is so little that the tie will remain in the road-bed for a very long period of time, forming practically a permanent roadway, it being necessary only to renew the blocks from time to time, and this can be conveniently accomplished by reason of the loops being open at their inner ends which will permit the old blocks to he slid from under the rails toward the center of the tie, and the new blocks replaced in like manner-by sliding them into the loops from the open end thereof-in each instance requiring therailroad-rail to be only slightly ele vated. Therefore the ballast underneath the tie does not have to be disturbed, nor is it necessary. to elevate the railroad-rail to any extent.

When an ordinary railroad-rail is employed, as shown in Figs. 7 to 11 of the drawings, the block 23 is-provided with a groove 24 in its outer side to receive the inner side of the head 20, and of course this construction practically locks the block in place, but it is advisable to reinforce the connection by additional securing means, as the bolts 25.

In the use of the ordinary wooden ties it often occurs that the ballast is tamped so firmly under the center portion of the tie that it rocks thereon or becomes what trackmen call center-bound. With a tie of the formation shown herein, and in our former patent referred to, such center-binding is practically impossible on account of the relatively narrow center portion and broad end portions.

The wooden blocks, which form the direct support for the track-rails, are very short and therefore not expensive, and in fact may be obtained from what has heretofore been considered waste material, for instance from the sound center portion of ordinary wooden ties which have been condemned on account of the ends being defective.

Having described our invention, claim:

1. A metal railway tie comprising a body having its ends bent backwardly onto the body and parallel thereto, said body being provided with flanges projecting toward each other at said bent portions, and resilient insulating blocks in the bent ends of the tie resting upon the inwardly-projecting flanges.

2. A metallic railway tie comprising a body provided with a bottom flange and having its ends bent back parallel to the body, the bottom flange at such bend being depressed .to form an anchorage in the ballast, and resilient insulating blocks secured in said bend and supported on said bottom flange. 1

3. A metallic railway tie comprising a body having bottom flanges and having its ends bent back onto the body and parallel Hill? reverse directions laterally thereto and in reverse directions, the bottom flanges at the inner arc of the bend being depressed downwardly, and resilient insulating blocks secured in said bent ends and supported on the bottom flanges thereof. 7

4. A metallic railway tie comprising a flanged body having its end ortions bent in,

ack on to the body and parallel thereto, whereby an improved anchorage in the ballast is insured, said'body and each bent end together being adapted to support the rail held transversely thereon, and the body being of substantially the same .-crss-secti0n from end to end;

5. A metallic railway tie comprising a body having lower flanges and an upper enlargement, said body at its ends being bent backwardly upon and parallel to-itself to form seats, resilient insulating blocks secured between the parallel portions of said body'and supported on the'fianges thereof, said enlargement preventing displacement of I the blocks from the tie.

6. A metallic railway tie comprising 'a body having lower flanges and an n per enlargement, said body at its ends bemg bent laterally upon and parallel to itself to form seats, resilient insulating blocks secured be tween the parallel portions of. said body and supported on .theflanges thereof, said enlargement preventing displacement of the blocks from the tie, and bolts passing through the parallel portions of said body and through said blocks for securing the blocks in their seats. I I

7. A metallic railway tie comprising a body formed with a web and oppositely WILLIAM w. MECHLiNG; JACOB E, SMITH.

Witnesses: I CHAS. E. Rrommn, H. L. BnA1.1.

disposed lower flanges and havingits end 

